This specification relates to manufacturing of objects using two or more separate tools, such as additive manufacturing tools, in a shared build volume.
Assembly line manufacturing is a manufacturing process in which parts are added as the semi-finished manufacture moves from workstation to workstation. Different tools that perform different functions are stationed in different workstations along an assembly line. Each manufacture travels sequentially from one workstation to another and from one tool to the next to complete the assembly process.
One tool can be an additive manufacturing tool. Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as solid free form fabrication or three-dimensional (3D) printing, refers to any manufacturing process where 3D objects are built up from raw material (generally powders, liquids, suspensions, or molten solids) in a series of two-dimensional layers or cross-sections. An example of additive manufacturing is Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). Traditionally, FFF uses a single print head to lay down material, such as a plastic filament or metal wire that is unwound from a coil, in layers to produce a manufacture. Recently, at least one AM system has been developed that allows two or more 3D printer apparatus to work in a coordinated fashion to manufacture objects in a shared 3D build volume.